Variability in the Duration of Designated Pediatric Orthopaedic Rotations Among US Residency Programs

Our goal was to assess the variability in the assigned duration of pediatric orthopaedic rotation among US allopathic orthopaedic residency programs to see how pediatrics is incorporated into surgical education. METHODS: Using publicly available information for US allopathic orthopaedic residency programs in 2019, we retrospectively collected data on the assigned duration of pediatric orthopaedic rotation and variables such as number and sex of residents, number of orthopaedic faculty, university- versus community-based programs, outsourcing residents to unaffiliated hospital for pediatric exposure, specialty of program leadership, and presence of pediatric orthopaedic fellowship in the home program. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-eight of the 146 (95%) eligible allopathic orthopaedic residency programs provided sufficient information. The average time assigned to a pediatric rotation during residency was 6 months (range: 2 to 11 months). Overall, 43/146 (29%) programs outsourced their pediatric training to another institution. A correlation was noted between the length of pediatric rotation and percentage of pediatric orthopaedic faculty (P = 0.0007, r = 0.3). CONCLUSIONS: The impact of the variability in the duration of duration of pediatric orthopaedic rotation on the clinical knowledge and skills acquired by the resident during training needs further study.